Introduction

Sunday, April 21, 2002 - 7:24 pm

Preston Ward Condra was currently in the 2nd grade at only being 8 years old.

I had just finished playing Snowboard Kids 2 on the Nintendo 64.

I think my parents wanted me to clean up my room or something, and I turned the system off and I turned the TV on in my room.

The channel was already set to NBC (channel 3) and it was left on there, as typically San Antonio Spurs games, frequently come on in the channel on Sundays.

By the grace of God it was left on that channel because otherwise if it wasn't, I definitely would have missed out on that episode.

My parents typically share that same TV with me.

All of a sudden, I see glimpses of kids playing on The Weakest Link.

I was like "Whoa, this is awesome."

I had already missed a good chunk of the episode, as it was down to six kids (episodes typically start with eight)

I hurried under my VHS collection, thankfully got a new VHS tape out, that my Mom bought me earlier in the week and I recorded 2/3 of the episode, that was left.

In fact, I almost didn't want to record it because I missed some of the early portions of the episode.

I barely knew "The Weakest Link" aired on Sundays. I thought they typically air on Mondays.

This was near the end of the show's run on NBC. This aired in April 2002. They cancelled the show in July 2002 (oddly enough, ended up being the 11th Grade Special)

Sunday death clock slot. Heh.

Anyways? The recording started with 1 minute left on the clock in the third round.

Here we go.

The Episode

"Tessa, on a standard watch, what number do both hands point to at noon?" Anne Robinson asked.

"...12." Tessa replied quickly.

"Correct. Paulie, table, soup and tea are all varieties of what eating utensil?" Anne Robinson, asked the red head, curly haired, caucasian.

"...Spoon?" Paulie said, with some hesitation.

"Correct, Jill." Anne said, swinging her podium over to Jill.

"Bank." Jill stated.

$2,500 was put in the team's overall total as is, the objective in every episode of the show.

"In language, what is the plural noun for the word tooth?" Anne asked her.

"...Teeth." Jill responded with a nod.

"Correct. Vanessa, Punchy is the mascot for what brand of red fruit drink?" Anne asked.

"Excuse me?" Vanessa said, as Anne said the question on a fast notion.

"PUNCHY, is the MASCOT for what brand of RED fruit drink?" Anne said, in an irritated tone at having to repeat the question.

"Fruit punch." Vanessa said shaking her head.

"No, Hawaiian Punch." Anne added.

Vanessa shrugs her shoulders to Jill, in the podium next to her, to her left.

"Travis, in chess - what piece must be captured to win the game?" Anne asked.

"The King." Travis said, a caucasian male wearing a yellow shirt and black spiky hair.

"Correct." Anne acknowledged, nodding her head in approval.

Anne circled back to the where Brandon was at, as he was in the first podium position.

"Brandon, on what-"

"Bank." Brandon said, barely banking the $1,000 dollars in time.

"MTV show, do fans dress up and recreate videos by their favorite artists?"

Brandon gives a look of uncertainty, an african male wearing glasses, a bit pudgy and wearing a brown and yellow sweater vest.

"...Countdown." Brandon shrugged, knowing that wasn't the right answer.

"Becoming." Anne corrected.

Only 12 seconds left on the clock.

"Tessa, what Quacker Oats brand of breakfast cereal comes in a variety of crunch berries?" Anne asked Tessa.

Tessa was an asian female, had long black hair and wore a blue and white sparkling shirt, with a blue headband in her hair.

"Captain Crunch." Tessa stated.

"Correct." Anne nodded.

"Bank." Paulie interjected quickly, with banking $1,000.

There isn't any penalty with banking the money as fast as possible like that on "The Weakest Link" even before your question is asked.

"Paulie, which country built - The Berlin Wall? East Germany or West Germany?" Anne asked.

Paulie knew time was almost up and blurted out a random quess.

"East." Paulie said.

"Correct, Jill." Anne exclaimed.

"Bank." Jill replied quickly, as Jill tried to bank, a last-minute amount of money in.

Do do do do.

"Time is up. That bank was out of time." Anne stated.

Jill, appeared as a caucasian female with long blonde hair, with a blue headband in her hair with wearing a light baby blue, periwinkle colored shirt.

Jill sighs and huffs in frustration.

"And in that round, you managed $12,000. That money will go through to the next round and one of you will not..." Anne stated.

Antidramatic pause.

"Who's about to lose their lunch money?" Anne joked.

Cue the god-awful canned laughter in the background.

"Who couldn't even, win a food fight?" Anne retorted.

More of the same, canned laughter.

"It's time to vote off, The Weakest Link." Anne said.

The stage changed colors from the signature blue to red, as red meant it was time to vote somebody off the team.

Do dee do do do.

"The strongest link is Travis. The weakest link is Brandon. How will the votes go?" John Cramer said, the announcer of the show.

Not much pandering of time, as it looks like the voting procedure lasted like 5 seconds.

Do de do do do.

How long is it actually shown they vote for someone off the team? With no editing manipulation, I'm not sure.

"Okay, voting is over. It's time to reveal, who you think is The Weakest Link."

Flashing white lights are shown behind everyone's podium as "The Weakest Link" was about to revealed.

"Jill." Brandon sighed in response, fearing he already knew, what was to come.

"Brandon." Tessa replied firmly.

"Brandon." Paulie added.

"Travis." Jill said.

"Brandon." Vanessa said, in a self-righteous response.

Vanessa was a caucasian female, with long dark brown hair, wearing a tan colored turtleneck with black pants.

Only in 2002, would you see someone wear a turtleneck.

"Brandon." Travis added.

The crowd ooh'ed in response, as they felt bad for Brandon getting voted off in a 4-1-1 outcome.

Fast Forward In The Story

Okay, so I ultimately decided to fast forward through things a bit, and show off which four contestants were voted off next.

Brandon was voted off as obviously shown earlier, then Vanessa, Paulie and finally Travis in that order.

It was now down to the Final Round with Jill and Tessa remaining out of everybody else as their peers were voted off.

The winner of the showdown, came down decided by a best-of-5-question bed finale and the the overall winner would get $77,000.

Here's how it played out. Let's go.

The Final Round

"Tessa and Jill, you have made it to the final round and $77,000 is up for grabs. Only one of you can take that money home and now you will be playing against each other, head to head. I will ask alternating questions, best of five. Whoever answers the most questions correctly wins. It's as simple as that. If there's a tie after five questions, we'll go to sudden death until we have a winner." Anne Robinson explained to the girls.

Both Tessa and Jill put on game faces, sharing eye contact with Anne the entire time, as she exemplified the rules of the Final Round to them.

"So, Tessa and Jill? For $77,000 dollars, let's play The Weakest Link." Anne said, in a well-mannered tone, before to how she usually talks in a serious tone in the show.

Dun dun dun.

The camera shifts it's focus on Tessa.

"Tessa, is the strongest link in the last round. You have the choice of who goes first." Anne stated.

"...I like to go first." Tessa nodded in response.

Another dramatic cue of music played in the background for a few seconds, before Anne asked the first question to Tessa.

"Tessa." Anne said.

Tessa nodded in response.

"What is the only letter to begin the names of three different months on the calendar?" Anne asked her.

Tessa pondered for roughly nine seconds, before coming up with her answer.

Tessa gave a motion with her head, looking like she was counting in her head.

Tessa looked at Jill for a brief second, before exclaiming her answer.

"J." Tessa nodded, with a firm response.

"That is the correct answer." Anne said.

Now it was time for Jill's first question.

"Jill, in television, what is the hometown of Marge and Homer Simpson?" Anne politely asked Jill.

Jill shakes her head in response.

Jill didn't know the answer to the question at all.

Jill drew a complete blank.

Jill had her head, face down as she gave her response.

"Pittsburgh?" Jill said, shaking her head.

"No, the correct answer is Springfield." Anne stated.

Jill stands there in silence, as Tessa is given her second question.

"Tessa..." Anne paused, in dramatization for the second question.

Tessa locks eyes with Anne.

"According to the American Kennel Club, what term describes a dog, up to 12 months old?" Anne asked.

Tessa thinks for about 3 seconds, before giving her answer.

"A puppy." Tessa responded.

"That is the correct answer." Anne stated.

Jill has her head face down, knowing that Tessa has two questions right, and doesn't even pick her head up, when Anne gives Jill, her second question to her.

"Jill, what current denomination of U.S. coin, features a picture of Franklin Roosevelt?" Anne asked Jill.

Jill shakes her head, in disapproval.

Once again, she didn't know the answer and just quickly responded with a wild guess.

"Quarter?" Jill said.

"No, the correct answer is dime." Anne replied.

Jill rolls, her hazel-colored eyes, clearly caught on camera.

Anne turns her attention, back to Tessa.

"Tessa, in the movie "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" what name did Dr. Evil give to his little clone?" Anne asked Tessa.

Tessa responded to the question in two seconds.

"Mini-Me." Tessa replied.

"That is the correct answer." Anne said.

Anne immediately locked eyes with Jill.

"Jill, you need to answer this question correctly to remain in the game." Anne warned her.

"Okay." Jill replied.

"Jill, what insect that shares it's name with a British ball game, chirps by rubbing it's four wings together?" Anne asked.

Jill gave a nod to Anne.

For sure, she knew the answer to this question.

"Grasshopper." Jill said.

"No, the correct answer is Cricket." Anne stated.

Jill squints her eyes, irritated that she got three questions wrong in a row.

And with that? Tessa win.

Victory music plays in the background.

The game was over.

"That means, Tessa you are tonight's strongest link and you go away with $77,000." Anne said.

Tessa lets out a big, widening grin and smiles the whole time, as Anne explains to her that she won a lot of money.

Jill looks at her, with a smirk, happy and a little relived that now, the game was over.

"Jill, you leave with nothing." Anne said.

Jill gestures, the letter O with her left hand, knowing full well, she was going home, empty handed.

Backstage Area

"$77,000 is a lot of money and it shou-take me a long way, so...I'm just so happy." Tessa replied to the camera with a smile.

"And the worst part was probably getting three questions wrong in the last round. And when Anne said like "Jill, you go away with nothing." Jill mocked.

Jill sighs in response.

"It's kind of stressful." Jill said, biting her lower lip to the camera.

And with those closing comments, the game was over.

"Join us, next time on The Weakest Link. Goodbye." Anne said, winking to the camera and smiling.

The only time, she actually ever smiles is at the end of every episode, thanking the viewers at home for watching the program.

That's it.

Tessa Ludwick won $77,000 on the show, despite only being 13 years old in 2002.

End recording.

The VHS tape faded to a blue screen.